Telephone set, repeating device and recording medium

ABSTRACT

A telephone  12   a  connected to a local area network  10,  comprising a means for requesting during communication a response from another receiver-side telephone  12   b  indicating its availability to receive a call, and a means for notifying the address of the receiver-side telephone  12   b  that responded to the caller-side telephone  22   a.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 09/964,333, filed Sep. 28, 2001, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a repeating device, a telephone set and a recording medium, and especially relates to the communication technology of relaying via a communication line telephone devices connected to a local area network.

Heretofore, voice communication between dedicated telephone sets connectable to a local area network (hereinafter called LAN telephones) and voice communication between personal computers (PCs) connected to the local area network are realized by a VoIP (Voice over IP) technology that processes the voice signal into packets and transmits the packets through the network. As shown in FIG. 6, in a minimum system environment in which the LAN telephones and the repeating device operate, PCs 11 and telephone sets 12 a-12 c connected to a receiver-side LAN 101 is connected via a router 14, an integrated services digital network (hereinafter called ISDN) 3, and connecting lines 41 and 42 to PCs 21 and telephone sets 22 a-22 c connected to a caller-side LAN 20.

According to such system environment, the communication method realizing calls between LAN telephones connected either to the same local area network or to different local area networks having different subnet addresses via a subscriber line can be applied to connect calls that designate a specific address, but there is conventionally no transfer system that enables the LAN telephone connected to a local area network to perform a transfer process.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The object of the present invention is to provide a telephone set, a repeating device, and a recording medium that enables a LAN telephone engaged in communication to transfer the communication to another LAN telephone connected to the same local area network or to a different local area network relayed by a communication line having a different subnet address.

The present invention provides a telephone connected to a local area network; said telephone comprising, during communication, a function for requesting a response from another receiver-side telephone indicating its availability to connect a call, and a function for notifying the address of the receiver-side telephone that responded to a caller-side telephone.

Moreover, the present invention provides a repeating device for relaying communication to a plurality of receiver-side telephones that are connected to a local area network; the repeating device comprising, upon receiving a transfer request from a user, a function for requesting a response from another receiver-side telephone indicating its availability to connect a call, and a function for notifying the address of the receiver-side telephone that responded to a caller-side telephone.

Even further, the present invention provides a recording medium readable by a computer and storing a program to be executed by said computer, said recording medium used either for a telephone being connected to a local area network or for a repeating device for relaying communication to a plurality of receiver-side telephones being connected to a local area network; wherein the program comprises either of the following sets of functions: upon receiving a transfer request from a user, a function for requesting a response from another receiver-side telephone indicating its availability to connect a call, and a function for notifying the address of the receiver-side telephone that responded to a caller-side telephone; or during communication, a function for requesting a response from another receiver-side telephone indicating its availability to connect a call, and a function for notifying the address of the receiver-side telephone that responded to a caller-side telephone.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view showing the functional structure of a logical block of the LAN telephone according to embodiment 1;

FIG. 2 is an explanatory view showing one example of the transfer operation performed by the LAN telephone according to embodiment 1;

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing an example where the transfer cannot be performed by the LAN telephone according to embodiment 1;

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing the functional structure of a logical block of the repeating device according to embodiment 2;

FIG. 5 is an explanatory view showing one example of the transfer operation performed by the repeating device of embodiment 2; and

FIG. 6 is an explanatory view showing the minimum system environment in which the LAN telephone and the repeating device operate.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The preferred embodiments of to the present invention will now be explained.

FIGS. 1 through 6 are referred to in explaining the embodiments of the telephone and the repeating device according to the present invention. FIG. 1 is an explanatory view showing the functional structure of the logical block of the LAN telephone according to embodiment 1. FIG. 2 is an explanatory view showing one example of the transfer operation by the LAN telephone according to embodiment 1. FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing an example where the transfer cannot be performed by the LAN telephone of embodiment 1. FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing the functional structure of the logical block of the repeating device according to embodiment 2. FIG. 5 is an explanatory view showing one example of the transfer operation by the repeating device of embodiment 2. FIG. 6 is an explanatory view showing the minimum system environment in which the LAN telephone and the repeating device operate.

Embodiment 1 will now be explained. The telephone according to the present embodiment comprises a function for requesting to another receiver-side telephone to reply their availability to connect a call, and a function for notifying the address of the receiver-side telephone that responded to the caller-side telephone. As shown in the functional structure of the logical block in FIG. 1, the telephone 12 according to the present embodiment comprises a CPU 121 having a structure of a microcomputer that facilitates the send-receive of communication data by controlling the whole unit, a RAM 122 functioning as a memory for logical memory, an EEPROM 123 which is a storage memory, an LED 124 and an LCD 125 that show the status of the present unit, a subscriber line (ISDN) and a 10 BASE-T (LAN), and a clock 126. Further, the present telephone comprises a LAN controller 127 that controls the send-receive data with the 10 BASE-T (LAN), and a controller 128 for physically controlling the 10 BASE-T. The telephone further comprises a microphone 129 and a speaker 130 for controlling the voice from the exterior. As shown in FIG. 6, the minimum system environment in which the LAN telephone according to the present embodiment functions is the same as the conventional example, wherein the PCs 11 and the LAN telephones 12 a-12 c connected to the receiver-side LAN 10 are connected via the router 14, the ISDN 3, and connecting lines 41 and 42 to the PCs 21 and the LAN telephones 22 a-22 c connected to the caller-side LAN 20.

One example of the transfer operation according to the telephone of embodiment 1 will now be explained with reference to FIG. 2. When the receiver-side LAN telephone 12 a which is the telephone according to the present embodiment is communicating with the caller-side LAN telephone 22 a and the telephone 12 a receives a transfer order from the user (in the present example, the LAN telephone 12 b is designated as the transfer destination), the LAN telephone 12 a sends a confirmation signal to check the availability of the LAN telephone 12 b which is the designated transfer destination, and waits for a reply. The transfer-destination LAN telephone 12 b rings a bell, and if the user answers the bell, it returns a “reply (call available)” to the LAN telephone 12 a (in the example, the LAN telephone 12 b is available for the call). Upon receiving the call available reply, the LAN telephone 12 a notifies the address of the LAN telephone 12 b to the caller-side LAN telephone 22 a. The caller-side telephone 22 a disconnects the call with the LAN telephone 12 a, terminating the communication with the receiver-side LAN telephone 12 a. The caller LAN telephone 22 a generates a call to the address of the LAN telephone 12 b, and when the transfer-destination LAN telephone 12 b receives the call, it returns a “reply (call OK)”. Upon receiving the “reply (call OK)”, the caller LAN telephone 22 a starts the communication using the VoIP protocol, and the transfer process is completed. Thus, the LAN telephone 12 a being connected to a call can confirm whether another receiver LAN telephone 12 b is capable of receiving a transferred call, and the caller LAN telephone 22 a can communicate with the LAN telephone 12 b to which the call is transferred.

FIG. 3 is used to explain the case according to the telephone of embodiment 1 in which the transfer-side telephone does not return a reply. During communication with the caller-side LAN telephone 22 a, when the receiver-side LAN telephone 12 a receives a transfer order from the user (in this example, the LAN telephone 12 b is designated as the transfer destination), it outputs a confirmation addressed to the transfer-destination LAN telephone 12 b and waits for a reply. The transfer-destination LAN telephone 12 b rings a bell, but since there is no reply from the user, the receiver-side LAN telephone 12 a ceases the transfer confirmation process, and returns to the communication with the caller-side LAN telephone 22 a, and disconnects when terminating the call.

Embodiment 2 will now be explained. The repeating device according to embodiment 2 comprises a function for requesting upon receiving a transfer request from a user a reply to another receiver-side telephone whether it is available for a call or not, and a function for notifying the address of the receiver-side telephone that responded to the caller-side telephone. The functional structure of the logical block of the router 14 that is the repeating device according to the present embodiment comprises, as shown in FIG. 4, a CPU 141 having a structure of a microcomputer that facilitates the send-receive of communication data by controlling the whole unit, a RAM 142 functioning as a memory for logical memory, an EEPROM 143 which is a storage memory, an LED 144 and an LCD 145 that show the status of the present unit, a subscriber line (ISDN) and a 10 BASE-T (LAN), and a clock 146. The router 14 further comprises a controller 150 that physically controls the subscriber line (ISDN), a controller 151 that physically controls the 10 BASE-T, and a controller 152 that physically controls the RS-232C. Moreover, the router 14 comprises a network controller 147 and a 10 BASE-T controller 151 for controlling the data being sent to or received from the subscriber line (ISDN), a LAN controller 148 that controls the data being sent to or received from the 10 BASE-T (LAN), and a RAM 149 which is used as the memory in which the network controller 147 or the LAN controller 148 store the send-receive data. The minimum system environment in which the repeating device of embodiment 2 operates is similar to embodiment 1 as shown in FIG. 6, so the explanation thereof is omitted.

One example of the operation of the repeating device according to embodiment 2 will now be explained with reference to FIG. 5. When a call is connected between the caller-side LAN telephone 22 a and the receiver-side LAN telephone 12 a, the receiver-side LAN telephone 12 a receives a transfer request from a user and the transfer destination is designated (in the present example, LAN telephone 12 b is designated). The receiver-side LAN telephone 12 a outputs a transfer request to the receiver-side router 14 addressed to the LAN telephone 12 b. Upon receiving the transfer request, the receiver-side router 14 outputs a confirmation to the address of the transfer-side LAN telephone connected to the LAN 10 asking its availability to connect a call, and waits for a reply. The transfer-side LAN telephone 12 b rings a bell, and if the user responds, returns a “reply (call available) to the router 14 (in this case, the telephone 12 b is available). Upon receiving the call available signal, the router 14 notifies the address of the transfer-side LAN telephone 12 b to the caller-side LAN telephone 22 a. Upon receiving the address of the transfer-side LAN telephone 12 b, the caller-side LAN telephone 22 a generates a call to the address of the transfer-side LAN telephone 12 b. The transfer-side LAN telephone 12 b receives the call, and returns a “reply (call OK)”. The caller-side LAN telephone 22 a receives the “reply (call OK)”, and starts communication using VoIP protocol, and thus the transfer is completed. As explained, the repeating device, upon receiving a transfer request from a user, can confirm whether the transfer-side LAN telephone 12 b is available for receiving the transferred call, and the caller-side LAN telephone 22 a can communicate with the transfer-side LAN telephone 12 b.

The above embodiments explained the case in which the present invention is applied to a telephone and a repeating device, but it is also possible to store to a recording medium (such as a CD-ROM) readable by a computer and storing a program to be performed by the computer the function is for requesting upon receiving the transfer request from the user a response from another receiver-side telephone indicating whether it is available for connecting a call and a function for notifying the address of the receiver-side telephone that responded to the caller-side telephone, or a function for requesting during communication a response from another receiver-side telephone whether it is available to receive a call and a function for notifying the address of the receiver-side telephone that responded to the caller-side telephone. By using this recording medium, the telephone connected to a local area network or a device relaying communication to a plurality of receiver-side telephones connected to a local area network can function as the telephone or the repeating device of the present invention.

According to the present invention, in a communication system enabling communication between LAN telephones by providing a repeating device in a local area network or by relaying local area networks that have different subnet addresses with a communication line, the present invention enables to provide a telephone and a repeating device that are capable of transferring the call connected to a LAN telephone to another LAN telephone. 

1. A repeating device connected to a local area network which connects a plurality of telephones and relays communication between a first telephone and a second telephone, said repeating device comprising: means, operable during voice communication between said first telephone and said second telephone, requesting a response from a transfer-destination telephone indicating its availability to connect a call upon receipt of a demand to transfer the voice communication from said first telephone; and means for notifying the address of the transfer-destination telephone to the second telephone upon receipt of a response from the transfer-destination telephone indicating its availability to connect a call, wherein a transfer process of the communication on the local area network is performed.
 2. The repeating device according to claim 1, further comprising: means for notifying a response indicating its availability to transfer a call to the first telephone upon receipt of a response from the transfer-destination telephone indicating its availability to connect a call. 